Thursday, January 22, 2009

All the Right Tools to Hand

Part of what I've been focusing on in my kitchen organizing is moving the items we do not use regularly farther away from the kitchen. Our house is a 1938 Cape Cod, and we are blessed to have a good amount of storage space (especially compared to my sister's much-fancier and larger 80s-era "Street of Dreams" home). The basement is a major blessing! We have a utility room downstairs, where the washer and dryer and overflow kitchen items are stored, and we also have a storage room we call "Chai's room." (Chai was our cat, who died 4 years ago, and she used to stay in that room overnight so she wouldn't rip the house to shreds.)

So last night I focused on one of our lower kitchen cabinets that contains pots and pans, plastic storage containers, bowls, measuring cups, etc., in addition to starting on our hall closet cupboard (which contains cookbooks, rice cooker, baking pans, etc.). We have been using our slow cooker constantly, so instead of putting it away down in the basement (its former home), with all of my decluttering, I was able to make room for it in the kitchen cabinet, along with the frying pans, which we use daily for quesadillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, and sauteeing. The soup stockpot and some other items got moved to the hallway cupboard.

I also went through our massive collection of dish and tea towels and relegated about many of the stained ones to the cleaning closet to be used for rags.

I also identified some duplicate (and older) pans and bowls to send to Goodwill, and moved some of the baking items down to the basement. (Because how often do we bake? Once a month, if that!)

It's going to take us a bit of time to get used to the new places for everything, but I'm convinced it will be nice to have all the right tools closer to hand!

I have only 10 days left of my kitchen (and kitchen nook) focus, and have still much yet to accomplish!! (Because you know my husband will be very disappointed in me if I'm still working on the kitchen in February and fall behind in the book!!)

Now that I'm getting my kitchen in better shape, I want to paint and redo the flooring...but no time, because I will be on to the bedroom next! I can't get distracted yet in redecorating before I feel more organized.

2 comments:

I'm in the same place with decorating. Will I go back and do it after I organize everything? And I'm a little freaked out about only having a week left. Do I just go on? So much pressure. You're doing so much!

About Me

When I'm not working as a writer and editor for an environmental consulting firm or hanging out with my four favorite males (my husband and three boys aged 7 to 17), I love to read, travel, listen to music, spout opinions on my blog, and spend time with my friends and extended family.